assessing the validity of cev model in measuring ethical
TRANSCRIPT
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Assessing the Validity of CEV Model in Measuring Ethical Organizational
Culture in Banking Sector in Sri Lanka
Swarnajothi, S.,
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Dissabandara, D.B.P.H.,
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Senadheera, G.D.V.R.,
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Cadbury (1992) refers corporate governance, as systems, structures and processes by which business corporations are
directed, controlled and monitored. The success or failure of the corporate governance will depend not only on legal
requirements but also on other ethical behavioural aspects and internal governance culture in the organization.There
should be an environment within the organization to have a culture and behaviour that will strengthen the implementation
of good corporate governance practices. A company should have specific principles and values related to their stakeholder
commitment. These values are more important than a rule based approach. Kaptein (2008) has developed the CEV model
which consists of eight virtues, namely; clarity, congruency of supervisor, congruency of management, feasibility,
supportability, transparency, discussability and sanctionability.
The purpose of this study is to assess the validity of CEV model of Kaptein in measuring ethical organizational culture in
a banking sector environment in Sri Lanka. A questionnaire was prepared based on the 58 scales of the CEV model and
distributed among 50 employees of a leading private bank in Sri Lanka and out of them 40 were responded. This analysis
is based on the data collected from those 40 participants. A five point Likert Scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to
(5) strongly Agree was used. Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient Analysis was used in measuring the reliability, and KMO and
Bartlett’s tests were used to assess the convergent validity. CEV model has been found valid in measuring ethical
organization culture with few modifications to the scales in Sri Lankan banking environment. .Since this study has been
made as a pilot study using only 40 participants of a particular organization in the banking sector there are certain
limitations in this study. There is an opportunity for future researchers to use more data from different type of
organizations and compare them to generalize the findings.
Key Words: Corporate Governance, Ethical Organization Culture, CEV model
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INTRODUCTION
Cadbury (1992) refers Corporate Governance, as the systems, structures and processes by which
business corporations are directed, controlled and monitored. Main body of knowledge of
corporate governance is based on Agency relationship, (Jensen and Meckling1976;
ShleiferandVishny, 1997) Stewardship and stake holder relationship (Williamson, 1975; Freeman,
1984), etc. Although numerous laws and regulations are imposed by relevant authorities to
strengthen the Corporate Governance, still we are experienced with corporate scandals. In order to
find the answer for a robust corporate governance mechanism we have to think ahead of traditional
economist view and find out some ways and means beyond that thinking. It is evident that legal
frame work imposing the corporations to comply with certain requirements, alone will not be a
successful measure unless the corporations itself behave ethically from the top to the bottom of its
organization. There should be a proper implementation mechanism and environment within the
organization to have a culture and behaviour that will strengthen the implementation of good
corporate governance practice.
Ethical aspect of corporate governance has been emphasized by several academics and researchers
in this field. Cadbury suggests that corporate governance is a concept with implications for an
organization’s approach to corporate social responsibility and business ethics in addition to
ensuring that regulatory responsibilities are fulfilled. Hermalin (2005) stated that corporate
governance can be considered as a process that involves an environment of trust, ethics, and moral
values of all the stakeholders. According to Collier and Roberts (2001) corporate governance is
not just a function of finance or accounting. The success or failure of the corporate governance
will depend not only on legal requirements but also on other ethical behavioural aspects and
internal governance culture in the organization.
Ethical Organizational Culture (EOC)
Ethical organizational context, is represented by two constructs, i.e: ethical climate and ethical
culture (Trevino and Weaver, 2003; Kaptein, 2008).Ethical climate is perceptions and aspects that
determine what constitutes ethical conduct (Victor and Cullen, 1988), whereas ethical culture is
those aspects that stimulate ethical conduct (Trevino and Weaver, 2003; Kaptein, 2008). As
Rentsch (1990) described ethical culture is more concern about the organization and ethical climate
pays more attention to individual’s perceptions and feelings. In general, ethical culture
encompasses the experiences, presumptions, and expectations of how the organization is
preventing unethical behaviour and promoting ethicality (TrevinoandWeaver, 2003). It is therefore
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a subset of organizational culture,with formal (e.g. codes of ethics, reward systems) and informal
(e.g. peer behaviour, ethical norms) systems that can promote either ethical or unethical behaviour
(Trevino et al 1990) Ethical culture of an organization stimulates the positive behaviour and well-
being of its members (e.g. Trevino et al., 1998;Kaptein, 2010; Huhtala et al., 2011) The logic
behind the idea of focusing on ethical values as a means to impact employee ethical behaviour is
that individuals can be expected to act in a manner consistent with the values in the organization
(Hunt et al., 1989).
Trevino defined EOC as those aspects and conventions of organizational behaviour that either
encourage the organization to operate in a sustainable way or deter it from doing so. He has defined
EOC as “a subset of organizational culture, representing a multidimensional interplay among
various “formal” and “informal” systems of behavioural control” (Trevino et al., 1998). When
employees believe that policies and procedures regarding ethics are followed by managers and
other individuals in the organization then higher ethical values exist. Managers might display these
values by acting ethically themselves and by rewarding ethical behaviour and punishing unethical
behaviour (Hunt et al., 1989; Jones, 1991). Working to create an enhanced level of ethical values
can significantly impact the behaviour of individuals within the organization
Paine (1994) stated that the integrity approach to a firm’s thinking about business ethics and
corporate responsibility to be deeper and broader than that guided by compliance. A code of ethics
can be thought of as a set of moral principles or guidelines which govern behaviour and which
enshrine a set of values and beliefs. If employees observe that management are behaving in an
unethical manner, then staff ultimately end up following their lead. (Huhtala et, al (2013)
Ethical business cultures are "based on alignment between formal structures, processes, and
policies, consistent ethical behaviour of top leadership, and informal recognition of heroes, stories,
rituals, and language that inspire organizational members to behave in a manner consistent with
high ethical standards that have been set by executive leadership" (Ardichvili et al.(2009)Corporate
Ethical Values can also be displayed through more formal systems such as reward systems,
policies, and codes. When employees believe that policies and procedures regarding ethics are
followed by managers and other individuals in the organization then higher CEV exist. For
example, managers might display these values by being concerned with the issues of ethics in their
organization and by acting ethically themselves including rewarding ethical behaviour and
punishing unethical behaviour (Hunt et al., 1989; Jones, 1991)
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Ardichvili and Jondle (2009) defined Ethical Organization Culture (EOC) as a subset of
organizational culture, signifying a multidimensional interplay among several formal and informal
systems of behavior control that are capable of promoting ethical or unethical behaviour. There is
evidence to suggest that leaders’ ethical development is connected to organizational culture and
socialization processes (Brown and Trevino, 2006). A strong ethical culture promotes structures
and decision-making processes, which can support ethical choices in difficult leadership situations.
Corporate ethical values have been shown to have a positive impact on person-organization fit,
where, “individuals can feel more compatible with organizations that share their values when these
values are ethical”(Andrews et al., 2011)
Existence of an ethically-oriented organizational culture could influence on the ethical behaviour
of the members of the organization (Brien, 1998; Seligson and Choi, 2006; Sinclair, 1993; Smith
and Drudy, 2008).According to Trevino et al. (1998) there is a positive relationship between ethical
culture and ethical behaviour as well as ethical culture and organizational commitment. Kaptein
(2011) stated that the influence of the ethical culture of organizations on employee responses to
observed wrongdoing.
Huhtala et al. (2013) stated that ethical culture has a direct effect on the occupational well-being
of managers and different dimensions of the ethical culture influence different forms of
occupational well-being differently. There is an association between ethical leadership and ethical
organizational culture. Ethical leadership has been shown to predict many positive outcomes
Leadership is often mentioned as one of the most important elements of an organization’s ethical
culture (Trevino, 1990; Brown & Trevino, 2006). Leaders who are perceived as being able to create
and support an ethical culture in their organizations are those who represent, communicate, and
role model high ethical standards (Brown et al., 2005).
It is important to develop an ethical culture in an organization as it benefits individuals as well as
the organization. This can be done by establishing ethical codes, providing training, informing
clearly what kind of behaviour is acceptable, and establishing reward and punishment procedure
etc. (Huhtala et.al (2013) Managers can develop their organizations’ ethical culture by creating
reward systems, ethical codes and norms (Weaver et al., 1999; Trevino and Weaver, 2003). A
strong leader with a high level of cognitive moral development and who can influence employees
is, therefore, able to act towards promoting an ethical organizational culture (Trevino and Weaver,
2003)
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According to Brown (1992) organizational culture can be a powerful tool for improving
performance and the key to organizational development and effective leadership. It is therefore
important to assess the state of the organization’s ethical culture and its effect on the organization.
The informal elements of a cultural system include norms for behaviour that are consistent with
the ethical standards or the code of conduct, mission, and decision-making processes (Trevino &
Brown, 2004). Leadership is often mentioned as one of the most important elements of an
organization’s ethical culture. Leaders who are perceived as being able to create and support an
ethical culture in their organizations are those who represent, communicate, and role model high
ethical standards (Brown et al., 2005).According to Hausman and McPherson (1993) ethical
attitudes and behaviour play an important role in overcoming the potential market failure
problems.Hunt and Vasquez-Parraga (1993) discuss the role of ethical culture in aiding ethical
behaviour within the organization.
Kaptein (2008) approaches the ethical organizational culture through ethical virtues. He stated that
both individuals and organizations should have certain features, virtues, which enable morally right
behaviour for an organization to become ethical. Virtue ethics provides a theory for organizational
culture by defining what kind of behaviour is morally right and worth pursuing. The Corporate
Ethical Virtue (CEV) model developed by Kaptein (2008) described eight normative virtues which
would promote the ethical culture of an organization.
Conceptual Framework
Congruence of
Supervisors
Feasibility
Congruence of
Managers
Clarity
Transparency
Supportability
Sanctionability
Discussability
Ethical
Organization
Culture
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Dimensions of the Construct
A research made by Trevino and others (Trevino et al 1998) has found that there is a positive
relationship with ethical action and employee behaviour. These findings indicate the necessity to
measure the ethical dimension of an organization culture. Although there were constructs
developed for ethical climate, Trevino is the first one who developed and tested a construct for
ethical culture (Trevino 1998).They used fourteen items; six for sanction for ethical and unethical
conduct, three for role modelling of top management, three for implementation ethics code and
one for whether ethical behaviour is the norm.
According to Kaptein (2008), the ethicality or virtuousness of an organization can be determined
by the extent to which organizational culture stimulates them to act ethically and prevents them
from unethical behaviour. Kaptein developed the corporate ethical virtue model (CEV model)
which consists of eight virtues,
De Bode et al (2013)made an effort by developing a shortened version of the CEV model for use
in ethics-related studies. By examining the shortened scale’s validity and generalizability across
multiple organizations in a different culture in United States. One goal of his study was to
administer the CEV model to employees from multiple organizations to understand which facets
of ethical behaviour were common across organizations and to assess the consistency of
employees’ perceptions across numerous organizations using a shortened version of the CEV
model.
He demonstrated that an acceptable ethical organizational culture questionnaire comprised of 58
items could be shortened to 32 items. The shorter scale will allow diagnosticians to combine it
with other questionnaires to facilitate a more comprehensive diagnosis (i.e., including ethical
culture). Thus, the shorter length will likely make the instrument more attractive to practitioners
and researchers who might shy away from longer diagnostic scales requiring more of their
resources
Methodology
In our study we identify eight dimensions of ethical corporate culture based on the CEV model of
Kaptein(2008) and developed our hypothesis. I prefer Kaptein’s model rather than DeBode’s
model(2013) or Trevino’s model (1998) as Kaptein’s model covers a wider range compared to the
other two. Eight dimensions identified in an ethical corporate culture are (i) clarity (ii) congruence
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of Supervisor (iii) congruence of top management (iv) Feasibility (v) Supportability (vi)
Transparency (vii) Discussability (viii) Sanctionability
(i) Clarity refers to the extent to which an organization’s expectations are clear to its
employees that they behave in an ethical manner. When employees are left to their own
discretion and moral intuition without a clear guidance or proper organizational frame
of reference, the risk of unethical conduct is high.
(ii) Congruency of Supervisors reflects the extent to which employees’ immediate
supervisor models appropriate ethical behaviour. Behaviour of immediate supervisor
has a greater influence on ethical behaviour of subordinates.
(iii) Congruency of Management refers to the extent to which the Board of Directors and
senior management influence ethical workplace behaviour. Unethical conduct of
employees is motivated by the example set by manager or board member engaging in
unethical and prohibited conduct. This organizational virtue amounts to the moral
requirement that managers should visibly act in accordance with ethical expectations.
(iv) Feasibility refers to whether an organization creates working conditions that facilitate
enabling employees to comply with accepted norms. If employees have little or no
scope to realize their tasks and responsibilities, the risk of unethical conduct increases.
Unethical conduct occurs when employees are lack of sufficient time, resources,
information, and authority to fulfil their responsibilities.
(v) Supportability denotes the extent to which employees are motivated to behave in
accordance with their organization’s ethical standards. Demotivated and dissatisfied
staff is more likely to behave unethically. Employees who feel that they are not taken
seriously or are not treated fairly might try to balance the scales of justice by deliberately
causing damage to the organization.
(vi) Transparency focuses on whether employees know the consequences of unethical
behaviour and rewards for ethical behaviour Employees can only be held responsible
if they know the consequences of their actions. Employees who are hardly aware of the
nature or seriousness of the consequences of their conduct are deprived of the
opportunity to account for, modify or alter their conduct. This can lead to a situation
where employees only focus on the action without regard for its consequences.
(vii) Discussability concerns opportunities for employees to raise, discuss, and correct
ethical issues and moral dilemmas at work. Unethical conducts by employees are
caused by an organizational culture with a low level of discussability or debatability. In
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such a closed culture, criticism is neither encouraged nor accepted. People close their
ears and eyes to what they do not want to hear or see. If employees are expected to
report, their work environment should be a secure place where moral issues can be
raised without fear of being victimized.
(viii) Sanctionability refers to the likelihood of employees being punished for behaving
unethically and rewarded for behaving ethically. When managers fail to punish
employees for engaging in unethical behaviour, the employees will think that unethical
behaviour is acceptable or tolerable. Sanctions should be imposed not just for the sake
of the perpetrator and victim, but also for the benefit of onlookers.
Scales
Based on Kaptein’s model we used 58 scales and coded as follows:
Coding
Clarity (CL)
CL1: Clear instructions on conduct towards others in the organization
CL2: Clear instructions on obtaining proper authorization
CL3: Clear instructions on usage of company equipment.
CL4: Clear instructions on utilizing working hours.
CL5: Clear instruction on handling money and other financial assets.
CL6: Clear instructions on dealing with conflict of interest and side line activities.
CL7: Clear instructions on dealing with confidential information
CL8: Clear instructions on dealing with external persons and organizations
CL9: Clear instructions on dealing with environmental issues
CL10: Immediate environment provide clear instructions on conduct themselves
Congruence of Supervisor (CS)
CS1: Supervisor should set good example for ethical behaviour
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CS2: Clear communication of importance of ethics should be given by supervisor
CS3: Supervisor should never authorize unethical or illegal conduct to meet business goals
CS4: Supervisor should do what he says
CS5: Supervisor should fulfil his responsibilities
CS6: Supervisor should be honest and reliable
Congruence of Board and Management (CM)
CM1: Conduct of board and top management should reflect shared set of norms and values
CM2: Board and top management should set a good example on ethical behaviour
CM3: Board and top management should communicate importance of ethics clearly.
CM4: Board and top management should never authorize unethical or illegal conduct to meet
business goals
Feasibility
FC1: Employees should never be asked to do things that conflict with their conscience.
FC2: Employees should never be asked to sacrifice personal norms and values for the success of
the organization
FC3: Employees should be given sufficient time to carry out their task responsibly.
FC4: Employees should be given sufficient information to carry out their task responsibly
FC5: Employees should be given adequate resources to carry out their task responsibly
FC6: Employees should never be put under pressure to break the rules.
Supportability
SP1: Everyone in the immediate working environment should be totally committed to the norms
and value of the organization
SP2: There should be an atmosphere of mutual trust in the immediate working environment
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SP3: Everyone in the immediate working environment should have the best interest of the
organization in their heart.
SP4: There should be a mutual relationship of trust between employees and management in the
immediate working environment.
SP5: Everyone in the immediate working environment should take the norms and standards
seriously
SP6: Everyone in the immediate working environment should treat one another with respect.
Transparency (TR)
TR1: Manager should be able to find out if something not permitted is done.by someone
TR2: Colleague should be able to find out if something not permitted is done by someone.
TR3: Someone should be able to find out if something not permitted is done by Manager.
TR4.If someone criticize the others action should be taken for that criticism
TR5: In the immediate working environment, there should be an awareness of potential violations
and incidents
TR6: In the immediate working environment, there should be adequate checks to detect violations
and unethical conduct
TR7 There should be a way to be aware by the management of the type of incidents and unethical
conduct occurred in the immediate working environment
Discussability (DS)
DS1: Reports of unethical conduct should be handled with cautious in the immediate working
environment
DS2: Employees should be given an opportunity to express their opinion in the immediate working
environment
DS3: There should be an adequate scope for the employees to discuss unethical conduct in the
immediate working environment.
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DS4: Reports of unethical conduct should be taken seriously in the immediate working
environment
DS5: There should be an adequate scope for the employees to discuss moral dilemmas in the
immediate working environment
DS6: There should be an adequate scope for the employees to report unethical conduct in the
immediate working environment
DS7: There should be an ample opportunity for the employees to discuss moral dilemmas in the
immediate working environment
DS8: There should be a respectful manner in calling to account for the conduct of employees
DS9: There should be an adequate scope to correct unethical conduct in the immediate working
environment
DS10: There should be an opportunity to raise the matter elsewhere in the organization, if unethical
matter reported does not receive adequate attention by the immediate working environment
Sanctionability (SA)
SA1: Employees should be accountable for their action in their immediate working environment
SA2: Ethical conduct should be valued highly in the immediate working environment
SA3: Only people with integrity should be considered for promotion in the immediate working
environment
SA4: Managers should be disciplined if he behaves unethically, if necessary
SA5: The people that are successful should stick to the norms and standards of the organization.
SA6: Ethical conduct is rewarded in the immediate working environment
SA7: Employees should be disciplined if they behave unethically in the immediate working
environment
SA8: Those involved in unethical conduct should be disciplined regardless of their position , if it
is reported to the management.
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SA9: Employees with integrity should be given a greater chance to receive positive performance
appraisal than employees without integrity
Analysis and Results
A questionnaire was prepared based on the above scales and distributed among 50 employees of a
leading private bank and out of them 40 were responded. This analysis is done based on the data
collected from those 40 participants. A five point Lickert Scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree
to (5) strongly Agree was used. Churchill (1979) and Parasuraman (1988) suggest that the
validation of an instrument begins with Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient Analysis. Therefore I have
used the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient Analysis in measuring the Reliability As given in the table
1 The Cronbach’s Alpha Value for the 58 items was .953. As the correlation of all the items are
above.3, there was no item to be deleted.
Table1 : Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based
on Standardized Items N of Items
.946 .953 58
As the next step we used the Varimax rotation method to identify whether there are any item highly
correlated to each other. The following table 2 depict that certain items are highly correlated to
each other as highlighted.
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Table 2 : Rotated Component Matrixa
Component
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
CL4 .843
CL3 .832
CL9 .798
CL7 .710
SA1 .686
TR6 .641 .471
CM4 .512
CL5 .508
SA6 .500
CS4 .843
CS5 .798
CS1 .777
CS6 .740
CS2 .729
DS3 .834
TR7 .817
DS2 .773
DS1 .642 .463
DS6 .640
DS8 .574
SP2 .782
SP3 .738
SP1 .723
SP5 .709
SP6 .701
SP4 .700
CM2 .716
DS4 .684
CM3 .653
SA8 .582
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CM1 .564
TR2 .933
TR1 .933
TR3 .908
DS9 .538 .642
FC3 .500
FC2 .819
SA3 .478 .587
SA5 .469 .585
SA9 .539 .566
SA4 .496
FC4 .797
FC1 .757
FC6 .643
FC5 .461 .535
CL6 .871
CL10 .840
CL1 .764
CL8 .525 .478
CS3 .736
CL2 .558
SA2 .510 .489
DS5 .487 .602
DS7 .496 .592
TR4 .862
TR5 .606
DS10 .833
SA7 .594 .635
Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 22 iterations.
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Using the Varimax rotation method 12 items as highlighted in the table 2, have been identified as
highly correlated to each other and these items have been deleted. They are
CL8,FS5,TR6,DS1,DS5,DS7,DS9,SA2,SA3,SA5,SA7,SA9.Although 12 indicators are deleted
there is no necessity to reduce the number of dimensions at this stage, as factor analysis itself has
given 14 components which is far more than 8 dimensions given in our construct.After eliminating
above 12 items reliability and validity were tested for eight factors.The reliability statistics of the
data set was ensured with a Cronbach’s Alpha value of more than.7,the reliability of the instrument
was ensured in terms of consistency. Next step was to examine whether the deletion of any items
could improve the Cronbach’s Alpha value.
When ensuring construct validity Exploratory Factor Analysis with Principal Component Analysis
should be carried out. To examine whether items in the scale measures the theoretical construct
(Ethical Organization Culture) convergent and discriminant validity have to be ensured. If an item
loads significantly <.7 on the factor, it is measuring the convergent validity is prevalent and if it
ensures that no other items are measured by the concept discriminant validity could be established.
Reliability and validity of each factor is as follows
Factor 1: Clarity
Table 3: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based
on Standardized Items N of Items
.845 .840 9
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Table 4: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
CL1 35.80 13.856 .494 .550 .836
CL2 35.45 15.228 .397 .344 .844
CL3 35.75 12.397 .770 .681 .805
CL4 35.85 11.721 .804 .706 .799
CL5 35.58 13.071 .630 .541 .822
CL6 35.65 14.746 .407 .427 .843
CL7 35.50 14.513 .410 .435 .844
CL9 36.45 11.279 .689 .652 .818
CL10 35.58 14.815 .457 .384 .840
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for the 9 items included in factor 1 was .840. There was no item to
be deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above .3.All items
had strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality
and construct validity.
Factor 2: Supervisor Congruence
Table 5: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.890 .885 6
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Table 6: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
CS1 22.17 7.122 .817 .814 .855
CS2 22.23 7.051 .727 .768 .867
CS3 21.75 9.064 .360 .334 .912
CS4 22.38 6.087 .808 .702 .856
CS5 22.28 6.666 .765 .737 .861
CS6 22.08 6.789 .789 .767 .857
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for the 6 items included in factor 2 was .885. There was no item to
be deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3.All items
had strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality
and construct validity
Factor 3: Manager Congruence
Table 7: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.818 .819 4
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Table 8: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
CM1 13.35 2.233 .720 .573 .731
CM2 13.13 2.420 .690 .548 .749
CM3 13.20 2.318 .709 .512 .738
CM4 12.98 2.692 .456 .223 .853
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for 4 items included in factor 3 was .819. There was no item to be
deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3. All items had
strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality and
construct validity
Factor 4: Feasibility
Table 9: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha
Based on Standardized
Items N of Items
.763 .783 5
Table 10: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
FC1 14.70 11.497 .774 .621 .642
FC2 15.60 11.221 .434 .269 .780
FC3 15.28 13.384 .470 .307 .740
FC4 15.00 12.308 .630 .523 .690
FC6 14.63 13.163 .454 .389 .745
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The Cronbach’s Alpha value for 5 items included in factor 4 was .783. There was no item to be
deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3.All items had
strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality and
construct validity
Factor 5: Supportability
Table 11: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.912 .913 6
Table 12: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
SP1 19.48 13.640 .766 .633 .895
SP2 19.30 14.677 .747 .606 .897
SP3 19.70 13.856 .775 .749 .893
SP4 19.45 14.767 .736 .703 .899
SP5 19.48 14.307 .739 .592 .898
SP6 19.35 14.541 .770 .618 .894
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for 6 items included in factor 5 was .913. There was no item to be
deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3.All items had
strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality and
construct validity
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Factor 6: Discussability
Table 13: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.765 .838 6
Table 14: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
DS2 20.68 8.276 .586 .710 .717
DS3 20.80 7.651 .721 .834 .682
DS4 20.48 8.512 .554 .499 .726
DS6 20.78 7.615 .720 .645 .682
DS8 20.75 8.192 .693 .584 .700
DS10 21.78 7.615 .722 .637 .884
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for 6 items included in factor 6 was .838. There was no item to be
deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3.All items had
strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality and
construct validity
Factor 7: Sanctionability
Table 15: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based
on Standardized Items N of Items
.742 .762 4
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Table 16: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
SA1 11.77 5.307 .607 .406 .665
SA4 11.93 5.558 .514 .322 .704
SA6 12.60 4.041 .528 .347 .707
SA8 12.30 4.164 .585 .418 .656
The Cronbach’s Alpha value for 4 items included in factor 7 was .762. There was no item to be
deleted and the values in the column labelled corrected item correlation are above.3.All items had
strong loading on the construct, they were supposed to measure indicating unidimensionality and
construct validity.
Factor 8: Transparency
Table 17: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.600 .638 6
Table 18: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
TR1 18.90 7.015 .478 .828 .502
TR2 18.90 6.554 .572 .830 .459
TR3 19.02 6.589 .599 .756 .453
TR4 20.07 7.610 .211 .213 .610
TR5 19.40 8.041 .081 .181 .677
TR7 18.95 7.792 .234 .096 .595
Out of the 8 dimensions Cronbach Alpha of 7 dimensions are higher than .7 except in the case of
“Transparency” which gives a value of .6.Therefore we have to look at the factor values given in
the following table to eliminate the highest value. But in this case eliminating one value will not
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give Cronbach value above.7, because the highest value given in the table is.677 (TR5.) Therefore
we have to eliminate two items to get a Cronbach value higher than.7. So we have to eliminate the
next higher loaded value also, that is .610 (TR4)
Table 19: Item-Total Statistics
Scale Mean if
Item Deleted
Scale
Variance if
Item Deleted
Corrected
Item-Total
Correlation
Squared
Multiple
Correlation
Cronbach's
Alpha if Item
Deleted
TR1 18.90 7.015 .478 .828 .502
TR2 18.90 6.554 .572 .830 .459
TR3 19.02 6.589 .599 .756 .453
TR4 20.07 7.610 .211 .213 .610
TR5 19.40 8.041 .081 .181 .677
TR7 18.95 7.792 .234 .096 .595
After eliminating those two values we get a Cronbach Alpha higher than .7 as given in the
following table
Transparency
Since new Cronbach alpha is above.7 reliability (internal consistency) of all the dimensions are
assured.
Convergent Validity
This can be tested by using KMO and Bartlett’s Tests. If KMO is > .5 and Bartlett’s is < .05 we
can accept the validity. Let us look at the following table which gives test results.
Table 20: Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's Alpha Based on
Standardized Items N of Items
.794 .802 4
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Table 21: Convergent validity of each dimension
Dimension Kaiser-Meyer-
Olkin Measure
Bartlett's
Test of
Sphericity
Calrity
.775
.000
Suoervisor
Congruence
.679
000
Manager Congruence .775
000
Feasibility .745 .000
Supportability .850 .000
Transparency .751 .000
Discussability
.751
.000
Sanctionability .687 .000
As KMO of all dimensions are above.5 and Bartlett’s are less than .05 the validity is assured
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Composite Reliability (CR)
The Composite Reliability indicates the reliability and internal consistency of a latent construct. A
value of CR>0.6 (Fornell & Larker,1981) is required in order to achieve composite reliability for
a construct. Now we can calculate the composite reliability for each dimension based on the factor
loading using the following formula
CR = (∑fl)²
(∑fl)²+∑me
Table 22: Composite Reliability of each dimension
Dimension (∑fl)² ∑me (∑fl)²+∑me CR
Calrity
35.2955 4.904 40.200 0.878
Suoervisor
Congruence
22.6766 2.089 24.765 0.916
Manager Congruence 10.3234 1.383 11.706 0.882
Feasibility 13.3079 2.279 15.586 0.854
Supportability 25.0801 1.819 26.899 0.932
Transparency 9.523 1.255 10.778 0.884
Discussability 19.4834 2.509 21.993 0.886
Sanctionability 9.3330 1.662 10.995 0.849
As CR of all the dimensions are greater than .7, Composite Reliability is assured.
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Average Variance
The AverageVariance Extracted indicates the average percentage of variation explained by the
measuring items for a latent construct. AVE >0.5 (Fornell & Larker, 1981) is required for every
construct.
Average Variance Extraction (AVE) =
Table 23 : Average Variance of each dimension
.674 .806 . 808 .737 .834 .828 .762 .764
AVEs of all are greater than .5 except for clarity, therefore reliability could be assured.
∑(fl²)
∑(fl²)+∑me
Clarity Supervisor
Congruen
ce
Manage
ment
Congrue
nce
Feasibil
ity
Support
-ability
Transpa
-rency
Discuss
-ability
Sanction
-ability
∑(fl²) 4.0956 3.9114 2.6174 2.7215 4.1809 2.7449 3.4909 2.3379
∑(fl²)+∑me 9.000 6.000 4.000 5.000 6.000 4.000 6.000 4.000
AVE 0.455 0.651 0.654 0.544 0.696 0.686 0.581 0.584
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Assessing Discriminant Validity
To assess discriminant validity, Pearson Correlation has been calculated for each dimension as
given in the above table and compare with the square root of AVE.As Pearson correlation values
for dimensions are lower than the square root of AVE of each dimension, Discriminant Validity is
assured
Table 24: Pearson Correlations
Clarity
Supervis
Congrue
Manage
Congrue
Feasi
bility
Suppor
tability
Transpa
rency
Discuss
ability
Sanction
ability
Clarity Pearson
Correlation
1 .196 .391* .243 .464** -.011 .230 .543**
supeCongrue Pearson
Correlation
.196 1 .548** .464** .451** .206 .500** .418**
ManageCongr
u
Pearson
Correlation
.391* .548** 1 .402* .440** .199 .596** .769**
Feasibility Pearson
Correlation
.243 .464** .402* 1 .394* .119 .359* .335*
Supportability Pearson
Correlation
.464** .451** .440** .394* 1 .228 .525** .435**
Transparency Pearson
Correlation
-.011 .206 .199 .119 .228 1 .462** .235
Discussability Pearson
Correlation
.230 .500** .596** .359* .525** .462** 1 .570**
Sanctionabilit
y
Pearson
Correlation
.543** .418** .769** .335* .435** .235 .570** 1
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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study is to assess the validity of CEV model of Kaptein in measuring ethical
organization culture in banking sector in Sri Lanka. The CEV model is used to measure eight
virtues, namely; clarity, congruency of supervisors, congruency of management, feasibility,
supportability, transparency, discussability and sanctionability .Eight factors were tested using
data gathered in a leading bank in Sri Lanka. The result of the factorial analysis of the scales made
in this study was in line with the previous findings of Kaptein. The results of this study support the
validity and reliability of the eight factor CEV model of Kaptein, with some modifications to the
scales. In the tested environment the number of items has been reduced by 12 items as they are
highly correlated as highlighted in the table 2 and thereafter reduced by another 2 items as indicated
in table 19.
In analyzing the data in a banking environment in Sri Lanka, based on the factor loading in table
2, it has been identified congruence of supervisors, congruence of managers, discussability and
supportability as clearly separable and consistent constructs as given in Kaptein’s model. However,
in Feasibility construct two items have been grouped with transparency (FC3) and
sanctionabilty(FC2). Clarity has been split into two groups forming a new one (CL1, CL6, CL8,
CL10) separated from others. In analyzing the items in this new group, it can be seen that they are
mainly concerned with human behavior in interacting with people rather than dealing with physical
or monitoring aspects of a bank. While two items of Transparency have been scattered between
clarity (TR6) and discussability, (TR7) another two items (TR4, TR5) have been formed into a
new grouping. Three items of Sanctionabilty (SA1, SA6, and SA7) have been grouped with the
construct of Clarity. In considering the factors mentioned above, it is worthwhile to see the
possibility of having 10 factors instead of 8 factors as given in Kaptein’s model.
Since this study has been made as a pilot study using only 40 participants of a particular
organization in the banking sector there are certain limitations in this study. It may be worthwhile
to study a larger sample of data including data from state banks to obtain a more comprehensive
analysis in the entire banking sector. Further, there is an opportunity for future researchers to use
more data from different type of organizations from different industries and compare them to
generalize the findings
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